Under-fire BetButler begins insolvency proceedings

The commission said today (Friday) that Tony Hyams from Insolve Plus had been appointed to serve as BetButler’s insolvency practitioner.

“We understand that Mr Hyams is arranging a meeting of creditors and has invited customers who believe they are owed money by BetButler to contact him,” the commission said.

“We understand customers are having difficulty contacting BetButler.”

In revoking the company’s licence, the regulator said that BetButler is “unsuitable to carry out its licensed activities in a manner which is consistent with the licensing objectives”. The commission added that it is “not satisfied as to the competence... (or) the financial circumstances of the licensee”.

The watchdog added to TotallyGaming.com that BetButler has 28 days to submit an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Gambling).

The commission started to monitor BetButler closely after customers complained about the company failing to satisfy customer withdrawal requests in the first quarter of this year.

At the end of August, BetButler ceased operations and posted a statement on its website that read: “The Board of BetButler Limited has been approached by a third party regulated gaming business to acquire the customer database, including all balances and pending withdrawal requests, of the business.

“This process will take some days to complete... A further announcement will follow in due course.”

In other news, the Gambling Commission has told TotallyGaming.com that 161 companies applied to qualify for continuation rights regarding a UK remote gambling licence by the regulator’s deadline of midnight on Tuesday.